A Woman Speaks Up At the UN “Think Resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction” Meeting

In March of 2026, I was honored to be a Delegate in New York to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) and attended meetings in the United Nations building with my UN security badge (see photo) and other locations throughout the city.

On March 19th, I had just attended the CSW70 Commission on the Status of Women seventieth session of the Plenary at UN Headquarters in New York under the priority theme “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers”. When the vote was held, it was 37 in favor, 1 against and 6 abstentions (see photos of delegates in session).

After I left the plenary session, I was told about a meeting being held by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the Think Resilience Dialogue addressing risk reduction for disasters globally. The speakers discussed Draft Articles on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters. I listened intently to the various country delegates about how critical it is for the world to have disaster risk measures, including through legislation and measures, to prevent, mitigate, and prepare for disasters. Country delegates all discussed the need for collecting and disseminating past loss information, and the installation and operation of early warning systems (see photos of speakers and delegates).

I was inspired when I heard the woman delegate from Turkey say that she felt the world needed to recognize and empower women all over the world who are experienced with handling disasters in their communities and we should all include women in their respective countries in the planning and implementation of disseminating information and operation of early warning systems. For me personally, the CSW70 2026 ended as I drew inspiration from an empowered woman who dared to speak up and out!